Safety, Environmental Protection, and Site Management
Safety, Environmental Protection, and Site Management
This domain tests whether you can run a rig site without injuring people or spilling on the land. Items blend hazard recognition, utility locating, spill control, and erosion and sediment requirements.
Hazards at the rig
- Rotating and moving equipment - augers, rods, swivels, hoists. No loose clothing, no hands on rotating pipe, guards in place, lockout/tagout before maintenance.
- Struck-by and pinch points - casing, rod joints, suspended loads. Keep helpers out of the bite line and use tag lines.
- Electrical - overhead lines near mast height, damaged pump cables, wet conditions. Maintain clearance and use GFCI protection.
- Confined spaces - well pits, tanks, and deep excavations are not entry-permitted spaces; test and ventilate if entry is unavoidable.
- Health - crystalline silica from dry drilling, noise, heat stress, and gas hazards in some formations.
- Excavations - shoring or sloping, with spoil set back from the edge.
Environmental controls
- Call 811 before drilling - Georgia's utility protection law requires notice before excavation.
- Contain fuel, hydraulic fluid, and drilling fluids; keep absorbent and a spill kit on site; never discharge drilling fluid or development water to a stream or storm drain without authorization.
- Install silt fence or a stabilized pad on sloped sites; land disturbance over the threshold triggers a construction stormwater permit and an erosion control plan.
- Restore the site: cuttings, wrappers, and drums removed; access road and pad stabilized.
Worked example
A hydraulic hose bursts during drilling, spilling fluid onto a slope draining to a creek. Response: stop work, shut down the pump, and block the drainage path with absorbent booms and soil; berm or use a lined catch pit; recover contaminated soil; notify the owner and, where the release reaches waters of the state, the appropriate authority; repair the hose and inspect the rest of the hydraulic system before restarting. Document the release and cleanup in the job file.
Traps
- Drilling before utility locates are marked.
- Hosing development water into a ditch that leads to a stream.
- Treating a small spill as "not worth reporting" without checking the threshold.
- Leaving an open hole or pit unguarded overnight.